First of all i'd like to apologise for the lateness of this issue, things have gotten rather hectic lately At least we are here now and have another great edition for you all to enjoy! We're recruiting for a new team, see the recruitment section for more details We also have a new Map competition happening, for more details and instructions on how you can participate see the Foundry section

If you would like to apply to join one of the teams below please fill out this simple form, and send it via PM to samuelc812. However, keep in mind that applications will be individually assessed. If you are not chosen to join the team now it does not mean you won't be in the future.

Any Additional Comments: (one or two lines in length describing why you think you are a good candidate)==========================================================

Newsletter Editor TeamTeam Leader - samuelc812Description - The Editor in Chief is looking for 1-3 people to help him put together the newsletter from issue to issue. The editors team would be responsible for putting together the newsletter. It's not that hard all the articles are ready all you need to do is construct a post with the articles in order. There is even a template for you to use to make it even easier. You will be trained up to be able to publish the newsletter as a team over time.

Tournament TeamTeam Leader - Night StrikeDescription - The Tournament Team will consist of 4-5 members who will all work as a team to put together the Tournament News for each issue. For example one reporter may do Currently Taking Sign-ups, another may do some sort of Hall of Fame section (these are just a few examples). The Team Leader will discuss with the rest of the team about what type of things they would like to include in their article. When the time comes, the Leader will consolidate the teams' contributions into the Tournament Article for that issue.

Foundry TeamTeam Leader - thenobodies80Description - The Foundry Team will consist of 4-5 members who will all work as a team to put together the Foundry News for each issue. For example one reporter may do Maps in Development, another may do some sort of Map Spotlight section (these are just a few examples). The Team Leader will discuss with the rest of the team about what type of things they would like to include in their article. When the time comes, the Leader will consolidate the teams' contributions into the Foundry Article for that issue.

Clan TeamTeam Leader - jpcloetDescription - The Clan Team will consist of 4-5 members who will all work as a team to put together the Clan News for each issue. For example one reporter may report on the Clan League, another may do some sort of Clan War Spotlight section (these are just a few examples). The Team Leader will discuss with the rest of the team about what type of things they would like to include in their article. When the time comes, the Leader will consolidate the teams' contributions into the Clan Article for that issue.

Freestyle TeamTeam Leader - nagerousDescription - The Freestyle Team will consist of more members than the other teams who will all work as a team to put together different little tidbits for the newsletter. For instance the interviews would fall under this category, as well as things like highlighting some Plug-Ins & Addons, Suggestions, Hot-Topics, General News as well as writing a perspective article like "A Newt's Tale" (these are just a few examples). This team will have unlimited possibilities to work with, and i'm sure this team will do great things. The Team Leader will discuss with the rest of the team about what type of things they would like to include in their article. When the time comes, the Leader will gather the teams' contibutions for that issue.

Heres to another exciting of the mess hall! This edition we have an interrogation of happy2seeyou, an article on dice from natty_dread and hot topics from ARMY of GOD. If this isn't enough, we also have FoxMists and her views on Conquer Club on Twitter! ARMY of GOD and natty_dread have also supplied us with a cartoon for this edition, about one of the off-topics more obscure threads. Hope you enjoy it!

Twitter. Tweets. Ass Mode…. Oh wait.. that’s a @CraigyFerg thing (Craig Ferguson). Chances are good that you know about twitter. If you don’t then you’re probably not reading this either. After all, you can’t live under a rock and play on CC. It just doesn’t work out well.

Now, do you actually understand twitter? The concept is easy to get, but the actuality of it is a bit more complicated. I decided to write this article on the Conquer Club twitter account (link) but I thought maybe I should help some of you socially (media) awkward people understand about twitter before I talk about a specific account. After all, all y’all may be sitting there thinking that twitter is for people who want to randomly tell others what colour toilet paper they’re using when wiping their ass. (Okay, it’s for them too, I suppose, but really we should avoid that sort of person… ). (Unless that’s your kinda thing. But if it is, I am totally avoiding you forever, k? Don’t follow me! ).

Anyway…. Twitter is not just there to tell everyone what you had for lunch. It is a way to keep in touch with news (like announcements and contests on CC!), meet new friends, and find discussions about your favourite subjects with ease. The trick is all in the hashtags! A hashtagged word (Such as: #conquerclub) is an easy way to search for what you want to find. I found 3 new players at Conquer Club just through a search for: #conquerclub. Items that have hashtags also “trend”. That means they are used so much that the twitter website with its millions of users picks up on it. Sadly #conquerclub has never trended. I blame you. But moving on…

Now the power of the retweet (RT)! When you RT something, you are essentially just repeating it for everyone YOU follow to see as well. After all, they might not follow the same people you do (in fact they probably don’t). The thing that makes this powerful is that when YOU have something retweeted by other people, all of their followers will see your ID. Then if they like (or really dislike) what you’ve said, they might start following you too. And chances are good they will also RT your tweet. See what this is doing? You gain followers exponentially! (errr.. I mean )

So, what does all this have to do with Conquer Club? Well, not a lot really! CC has not done nearly as much as is possible with the power of twitter… YET. I have faith in us though. I highly suspect there will be more awesome things exclusive to twitter coming from us soon! (I highly suspect this because Mr.Optimus Primetold me so ) But there you are! 222 potential people (at last check) to play a game with. Then there's the special stuff that they will only advertise on twitter (better sign up!), and of course, there’s the Foundry.

Yeah, you know you love new maps as much as I do. Well the CC Foundry has their own twitter page (link). So you can hear about them fast. What more could you possibly need? Twitter has it all in one place. So go sign up, check out CC’s two twitter pages, and start finding new people to demolish!

A lot of discussion has arisen lately on the integrity of the intensity cubes, aka. dice. By "a lot" I mean a lot even by CC standards. Threads of dice complaints seem to be popping up like mushrooms in rain. General discussions is so full of them, that some are spilling over to Q&A.

What causes this sudden uproar of disgruntled dice rollers? Are the intensity cubes truly flawed, or is an unusually large portion of CC having mental PMS? The most vocal of the complainers are even threatening to quit CC over their dice troubles.

I set out to investigate the matter. It seems that dice complaint threads have been posted on CC ever since CC started. By searching the keywords "dice + complaint" one can find 256 matches, the first one of them from February 2006... that's one month after CC launched!

So obviously, this phenomenon is nothing new. So if the dice have been "flawed" for the whole existence of Conquer Club, how come we still have members? My next stop was random.org, from where CC acquires the numbers on our cubes. I read their website to find out how exactly our random numbers are produced:

Random.ORG wrote:Regardless of which physical phenomenon is used, the process of generating true random numbers involves identifying little, unpredictable changes in the data. For example, HotBits uses little variations in the delay between occurrences of radioactive decay, and RANDOM.ORG uses little variations in the amplitude of atmospheric noise.

So, atmospheric noise. What is atmospheric noise you may ask? Well, Wikipedia has the following to say on the matter:

So let me get this straight. Our dice rolls are dependent on the weather? Should I stop playing when it rains? Do I get more sixes when it snows??

Again I dug around at Random.ORG.

Random.ORG wrote:You could argue that the atmospheric noise used as a source for the RANDOM.ORG numbers can be viewed as a chaotic but deterministic system. Hence, if you knew enough about the processes that cause atmospheric noise (e.g., thunderstorms) you could potentially predict the numbers generated by RANDOM.ORG.

However, to do this, you would probably need knowledge of the position and velocity of every single molecule in the planet's weather systems. This is of course infeasible, and the inaccuracy of weather forecasts is a good example of how difficult it is to give even a rough estimate of the behaviour of weather systems.

Well. It seems cheating Random.ORG at least is largely impossible. Unless you can control the weather.

But the question remains, why do some people perceive their dice to be unrealistic or unfair? Is it just a matter of perspective? Do these players play in the wrong weather?

I started digging around in the old dice threads. Some of the stuff you find is kinda funny... look at this for example:

lackattack in an old dice thread at 2006 wrote:There was a problem for 2 hours between 16-Feb-2006 19:46:30 and 16-Feb-2006 21:48:29 (Montreal time) where the dice ran out and everyone rolled zeroes, which really sucked. I fixed that problem and I apologize for it.

Wow, that must have been a sight. I wish I had been around to see it... but not the shitstorm that undoubtedly resulted from it.

But apart from funny anecdotes, the complaints seemed to be the same in the past as they are in the present.

a dice complainer, 2006 wrote:I just lost a 13 to 2.

a dice complainer, 2010 wrote:I just lost a 9 to 1.

Personally, I do understand where the dice complainers are coming from. I have often posted vulgarities in game chat myself, after losing an assault that should have been a walk-through (and sometimes losing the game as a result). It may get frustrating, but the opposite side has a point as well: it is largely a matter of perception. Some people expect the dice to behave in a certain way, and when they do not behave as they expect they conclude that the dice are flawed in some way. But then, that fits the definition of random too: unpredictability.

This reminds me of an Arab proverb: "The dogs bark but the caravan moves on." Despite all the dice complaints, Conquer Club seems to be alive and well. Like they say, there have always been dice complaints, and there always will be. Maybe some people quit because of perceived "unfairness" of dice, but the member base of CC still seems to be in a steady growth.

I think we should all just loosen up a bit. Let's all spend the day losing points to our unfair dice, and laugh while we do. Let us learn how to enjoy losing as much as we enjoy winning. Hey, if the dice are raping your mind, take two steps back from the computer, go make sweet love to your special someone, and come back on a better weather...

Q. Happy2seeyou, what do you enjoy about Conquer Club?I enjoy being in the sexiest clan ever, the BpB.

Q. Have you always had milk juggs?I didn't acquire my glorious juggs until after joining the sexiest clan ever, the BpB.

Q. Why are you asking yourself questions?When one is in the sexiest clan ever, the BpB, we are always asking ourselves questions. This is why I'm not afraid to stand out from the rest. People that have a problem with it are just ugly.

Q. Why are you happy to see me?I'm not so much happy to see you as I am happy to see the sexiest clan ever, the BpB.

Q. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?Being in the BpB we don’t worry about wood or being wooden, that’s for non BpB people, but I will tell you this, a woodchuck could never chuck as much sexiness as the BpB can chuck.

Q. When was the last time you won an "avatar" bet?The last time I won an avatar bet was against Incandenza I do believe. I'm pretty sure that since I have joined the sexiest clan ever Bpb, no one has been man enough to go up against me.

Q. What is like being in the most awesome clan known to man? Being in the sexiest clan ever - BpB cannot be described in words. One must experience it themselves to truly understand it.

Q. If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?I suppose if I were an animal, I would be a lioness. She is strong, beautiful and fast. She would also be in the sexiest clan ever, the BpB and if you disagreed with her she would rip your face off.

Q. Who is your all time favorite people to be teamed with and against?I have played with and against so many different people, it is hard to say just one particular person. Lately I seem to only play with members of the sexiest clan ever, the BpB.

Q. Are you a tits or an ass woman?Both, being involved in the sexiest clan ever BpB, I enjoy people looking forward to when I walk into a room and when they watch me leave.

Q. How do you feel about these people asking you questions?It's only normal for people to be curious of the members in the sexiest clan ever, the BpB.

Q. Do you think that cc was better/more fun, in 2007 or in 2010?I made a lot of nice friends back in 2007 but that was before I was blown away with the sexiness of the BpB. 2010 is where it's at right now.

Q. What was the best thing about cc when you first joined?I enjoyed having somewhere to go and unwind from my day and I had the hopes and dreams of someday being a part of the sexiest clan ever.

Q. What is the best thing about cc right now?The sexiest clan ever, the BpB. I pity the CC member that cannot be a part of it.

Q. Who is better georger or scott-land? They are both good in their own ways. If I need a laugh, I can count on them. I'm pretty sure that they have a secret love affair going on, but that is just what I heard. Both of them are extremely jealous they were denied access to the sexiest clan ever, the BpB.

Q. What made you decide to join BPB?Who wouldn't want to join the sexiest clan ever? It wasn't something I really decided to do, it was more like I was born to do. One cannot control fate or joining such a sexy clan.

Q. If BPB didn't exist could you see yourself in another clan? If so, which one?If the BpB didn't exist, there would be no sexiness to spread around and CC would fail which would cause no other clans to exist as well. I'm surprised CC lasted as long as it did prior to the sexiest clan ever.

Q. What is the ultimate truth?BpB is the sexiest clan ever.

Q. Do you believe asking yourself questions in your own interrogation shows narcissistic tendencies?As I answered earlier... " When one is in the sexiest clan ever, the BpB, we are always asking ourselves questions. This is why I'm not afraid to stand out from the rest. People that have a problem with it are just ugly. On the other hand, when you are as beautiful and sexy as the members of the BpB do you blame them for being narcissistic?"

Q. Do you feel badly that Pimpdave was interviewed before you?It's only natural for others to be interviewed prior to someone in such a sexy clan. I think it would be extremely difficult for him to be interviewed after me. They were making him feel good with a little sugar.

Q. Were you surprised to find out exactly how stunningly good looking the BpB are in real life, once you friended us on FB?Actually no. I expected nothing other than total sexiness coming from all the members in the sexiest clan ever, the BpB.

Q. If you were a man for a day what would you do?I would be completely bored as a man. I guess the only thing good going for me as a man would be knowing that I was in the sexiest clan ever, the BpB.

Q. How long does it take you to get ready in the mornings?It takes me 3 minutes, 1 minute to put my game face on, 1 minute to put my autographed sexy BpB clothes on and 1 minute to reflect on the sexiest clan ever the BpB.

Q. Why are you pink?A long time ago, Optimus Prime knew in his heart that I was going to be in the sexiest clan ever and allowed everyone to notice me when I won any tourney. The sexiest clan ever, the BpB, stands out.

Q. Do you wear fuzzy pink slippers?I actually do. I have fuzzy pink, fuzzy blue, and silk autographed black slippers from Owen that showed up on my doorstep the minute I joined the sexiest clan ever, the BpB. I'm wearing them right now.

Q. Natty_dread wants to know if he can fondle your jugs?Natty_dread cannot handle my sexy juggs. They are property of the sexiest clan ever, the BpB

Q. If you had to choose between having sex with Twill, Lack or Andy, how many times would you shoot yourself in the head?I could never shoot myself in the head being from the sexiest clan, so I suppose I would just have to shoot them in the head instead.

Q. RL_Orange is intrigued as to when you will next be single?Anyone in the BpB will never be single. Being in the sexiest clan ever prevents that

Q. Timminz on the other hand wants to know what your dad is like? My Dad was locked up a last year because he went crazy after he was denied membership to the sexiest clan ever BpB. He is just not sexy enough, I had to give him the boot.

Q. Beckytheblondiehas already had three CC relationships... how many have you had?The only CC relationship I have had is the one with the sexiest clan ever, the BpB.

Q. Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?As mentioned in an earlier answer.. "I'm not so much happy to see you as I am happy to see the sexiest clan ever, the BpB."

Q. Are your milk juggs litres or gallons?Only members of the sexiest clan ever, the BpB, can know the answer to that.

Q. Chocolate or white? Both. Members of the sexiest clan ever, the BpB, don't discriminate, why should we? Perhaps your question should have been ‘sexy or sexy’? In which case I could have answered the same way.

Q. Is your husband jealous of all the triples games you play with Owen and Brett?When I became a member of the sexiest clan ever BpB, my husband was informed that he would have no control of the people I would want to play with, he’s cool with this because he is an honorary member of the sexiest clan ever, the BpB.

Q. What do you do for a living?Being a member of the sexiest clan ever, the BpB, is a full time job. I have to make appearances all over the world. I'm also in the process of writing a "behind the scenes of the BpB" book.

Q. What percentage of your daily caloric intake comes from alcohol?I wish I knew the answer to that one. It doesn’t really matter though, because whatever calories I take in, get burned off with all the sexiness from the BpB.

Q. What is your favourite pizza topping?I don't have a single favorite, but being from the BpBs my toppings are always cool with a dash of edgy on the side and sexy for dessert

Q. What is your favourite band? Please don't say U2.Naturally the sexy BpBs very own Vace Coopers band is my favorite, who else?

Q. What is your favourite movie?being a member of the sexiest clan the BpBs means I don't have a favourite film, we are all far too cool and sexy to think about such things.

Q. Thanks for the questions Happy2seeyou!You are very welcome. This is the closest most CC members will ever get to the sexy BpB. I'm feeding the baby now and have one hand free...but being from the BpBs means I can have one hand free and still create a culinary wonder of 5 courses in time for 10 dinner guests arriving in 2 hours.

Welcome to the newest tournament article. This issue includes a story about reserves by vodean, a list of recruiting tournaments by superkeener, and a look at a trio of sports organizers by amazzony. She's also provided a teaser for the next issue: "If you want to know what's favorite tournament of flexmaster33 then read issue 28"

Why do people hate being reserves? This is a question that lingers in many minds. Most people simply reply: I don’t want to sign-up if I’m not going to participate. But is that really the case? The reason why reserves were created is to replace the deadbeats. If they were not used, they would be abolished. Personal experience says that one in six sign-ups deadbeat out of tournaments. In the spirit of journalism, your mando went around the community asking people their opinions on why people hate being reserves so much.

JOHNNYROCKET24 wrote:im thinking because they join as subs and wont get credit for the medal if they win ?

Which is interesting, but how many people actually read the entire handbook? And there are loopholes in that rule.

Optimus Prime wrote:Why do players dislike being reserves in tournaments? It's a tough question, but I think it boils down to something fairly simple. When someone signs up for something they want to participate, not sit in the wings hoping and waiting that someone will forget to show up or that some other situation will arise and let them in.

The other factor to consider is that reserves don't have any control over when they might be called upon or how many games they may end up carrying as a result. That makes it difficult to commit to such a position as well.

Ultimately, my opinion is that reserves are necessary for every tournament. Sure, a lot of them end up never being used, but it gives an organizer a sense of security knowing they have a couple of backup bodies to work with if things get a little sticky at some point.

Nobody should be afraid to be a reserve, especially if they would have eagerly participated had they managed to secure a normal spot to begin with.

Regards, Optimus Prime

Thank-you, Optimus, for your insights. People should not be afraid or begrudging of signing up as reserves because no one will be left out. The tournament can move faster and more reliably, and there is a small difference. If you are called upon as a reserve, then you have a smaller commitment. There is still a fair chance of being called upon, so neither of those can be justification.

Ask a serious tournament player his favorite sports tourney organizer and you will most likely get one of these 3 names: flexmaster33 [Flex], Forza AZ [Forza] or Serbia [Serbs]. They are best known for their interesting and well run sports leagues and tournaments that people always have interest in. Why do they run them? For the love of sports is the simple answer from all three. Serbia is a big sports fan whose favorite sports are hockey first, football second but he adds: "I'll watch anything - during the Olympics, I'll watch the Ukraine play Austria in water polo, and even pick a country to root for." Forza is interested in sports (and mainly soccer) a lot, and that is why he chose to have that theme for his tournaments most of the time. Flex adds, "I have a passion for sports (work as a Sports Editor), so I enjoy mixing my passion for Conquer Club and sports."

"You ask how hard they are to run, and how time-consuming. Well, it depends on the league, and settings," says Serbia, and adds, "First, I can't say they're really 'hard' to run, since I'm somewhat familiar with Microsoft Excel, and have installed some formulas to help my stat-keeping." In creating games, he mandates a single setting with players picking their home map for larger seasons because he needs to make 90 games per week. "Making games are MUCH easier when you can set the settings once, then just change maps and labels." For NFL triples and doubles tourneys, Serbia lets each team pick their own settings as well because there he needs to only make a maximum 16 games per week. Forza's experience shows that: "as long as players join their games rather soon (and that is the case for most players in my tournament), it is not hard to run the tournaments." Flex thinks that like any other tournament, they are as difficult as you want to make them. "Doing a basic bracket sports-themed tourney is pretty simple, while my more complex formula-based tourneys are more complex (although they are my favorite to run)." Hardest part for Flex is deadbeats, which can be a real problem in huge leagues. For Serbs it’s something completely different: "I think the hardest part for me ends up being getting everything right. I don't know how many times I've made 90 games, then found out I somehow got the settings wrong, and then having to delete them all, and make 90 new ones."

"Now, time-consuming. It can be, yes. Again, I've created a spreadsheet and added some formulas to assist in my record keeping, but much of the info still needs to be entered manually. For my larger tourneys I would spend probably 2 hours on a weekend updating it," says Serbs. Flex finds updating results time-consuming: "A simply tourney means checking map results, maybe 10 minutes of work at the end of the day, while the more complicated tourneys can take up to 30-40 minutes each night to add up armies and post results." Forza also puts a lot of time to keeping scoreboard always ready for players: "I tend to update the tournaments each day, so that costs a lot of time. But it could also be easily updated just twice a week or something like that."

On a lighter note though, "The easiest part really is just the enjoyment I get out of it. Because it's fun for me, it makes a lot of the work easy, and in fact something I look forward to. I like tracking trends, see who's getting better, see who surprised in a given week, good or bad, seeing players try to make a run toward the top, and charting my own patented fast start/flame out late/comeback and barely make the playoffs/streaks," says Serbia. Flex has a similar view on the rewards of being an organizer for such sports tournaments. “Seeing players advance through…especially the upsets. Many of my sports leagues are designed to take luck out of the mix as much as you can in 1 vs. 1. My goal is to make the CC league mimic real life as much as possible, so an upset truly is unexpected and something to enjoy. I love seeing the lower-ranked players get a chance to take on the CC big boys, and I also like crowning a champion because winning one of these tourneys is truly a difficult task," says flexmaster33.

What advice can be given to those who wish to run as successful tournaments as those three? Forza's piece of advice goes like this: "Make clear how the tournament is set-up and what the rules are in the opening post and update the results regularly." Serbia's advice: "If you're going to attempt it, make sure you have time, are willing to commit to something for a long time, and really, really enjoy what you're about to do!"

Here is a summary of some tournaments that are currently recruiting participants. Follow the links listed for each of the tournaments to find more information or to sign up for some great competition. Oh yeah, and if you sign up for one of the listed tournaments, tell them the Conquer Club Dispatch sent you.---Subarashii Japan!Organizer: amazzonyviewtopic.php?f=90&t=110431A massive 128-player tournament showcasing RedBaron0's newly released map, Japan. All games are 1v1 and a Best-of-3 series. *Premium Prize awarded.---AGE OF REALMS Tournament 2010Organizer: Muertoviewtopic.php?f=90&t=110546With no limit on the number of players in this tournament, all AOR fans will battle it out in 6-7 player matches in Terminator action. It’s a “real-time” tournament with time limits per turn. There are many stipulations in the tournament, so make sure you read the tournament structure carefully.---WCF Doubles I – Feudal WarOrganizer: Lindaxviewtopic.php?f=90&t=110834Officer’s Only (1600+ for both members). Lindax's newest tournament will be comprised of Doubles on Feudal War. The format will follow that of the World Cup, with first a Round-Robin phase, with the top teams moving on to a 16-player single elimination bracket. Grab your partner and sign up.---JHR’s short MLB seasonOrganizer: jrh_cardinalviewtopic.php?f=90&t=110876A shortened MLB season with 1v1 games. Pick your favorite MLB team, your favorite map and settings, and step up to the plate.---In Honor of oaktownOrganizer: Gilliganviewtopic.php?f=90&t=110498A 1v1 tournament showcases all maps from oaktown. From Berlin 1961 to Route 66, master these maps to advance in the tournament. *Premium Prize awarded---Keep on Truckin’Organizer: flexmaster33viewtopic.php?f=90&t=110792Another 1v1 tournament, but this time with a storyline involving Bill Gates, the BeeGees, and sharpies. Choose one of four routes to rack up miles as you battle across maps to deliver your goods. With an interesting tournament structure, make sure you read thoroughly so you can develop a winning strategy.---

That's it for this issue. If you wish to have your tournament listed in the next Currently Taking Signups, send superkeener a sweet PM with a link to your tournament.

Hello Conquerors!A quiet fortnight for the foundry, so we go with a short edition this time, but with something new.Indeed with this issue we start taking sign-ups for a map puzzle competitions, further details below. Moreover, as always, the news section with the latest news from the foundry and the map in development section to keep you updated about the forthcoming maps.Enjoy it!

Cairnswk is still here!After having announced his retirement, cairnswk decided to temporarily go back on his heels in order to complete his last two maps currently in production (Cricket - Silly Mid On and Stalingrad) and for the possible adjustments for the "long awaited come back" of Das Schloß. Let's see if in the meantime, he decides to change his decision and start a new project...

Chicago QuenchedAfter 8 months of hard work, Scott-Land has completed his first map. Chicago was quenched and the mapmakers can finally show his new shiny medal in his profile.A colorful map with a classic gameplay. However, Airports and the railway lines, besides giving a perfect picture of this famous city, are nice features that allow different startegies, making this map fun, even in the long term.Congratulations to Scott-Land

Foundry Roll of Honour Medal CompetitionAfter 3 weeks of competitions MrBenn has opened the voting for the Foundry Medals Competition.The poll is available here --> viewtopic.php?f=467&t=109517 and everyone is able to vote untill March 23rdThe winner set will be used for the forthcoming Foundry Roll of Honour and those medals will be awarded to the most deserving people who have contributed or will contribute in making the Foundry a better place.So, what are you waiting for? Vote your preferred set of medal now!

Which maps do these small images belong to?1.__2.__3.Easy? It will not be always so easy...

How it works:Over the next 2 weeks I'll be taking sign-ups for this puzzle competition.When sign-ups will be closed, each participant will receive via PM all the details to partecipate to the competition.There will be 10 sets of images, each set will consist of 10 images. The sets will be easier at the beginning and they will become increasingly difficult turn after turn.The partecipants need to find the right maps and submit the answers no later than 48 hours after the publication of the newsletter.They will receive 1 point for each correct answer submitted.The scoreboard will be updated with the new scores each fortnight.At the end of the 10 series of images, the leader at the top of the scoreboard will receive a nice "sur-prize".

If you are interested then please contact thenobodies80 via PM, any PM's not sent to thenobodies80 will be ignored.Everyone* can participate in these game. (* only samuelc812 and thenobodies80 have access to the images during the competition and know the correct answers)

So if you think you're able to find out all the 100 maps, sign up and prove if you have a good glance!

To see the full sized preview of the following maps just click on the title of the map, to visit the map development thread

Melting Pot

Recently Design Brief Submissions:

New AsiaMapmaker:MrBenn & Peter GibbonsDescription:After making a more accurate representation of Europe, MrBenn is now looking to do the same for Asia. Currently territories and bonus areas are being discussed.

ExodusMapmaker:isaiah40Description:From the maker of Fractured America, the first CC map with a biblical theme is being developed. The map features the Exodus of the Israelites, with an interesting gameplay.

QuakeMapmaker:elGrandeDescription:Another very promising first draft from a new mapmaker. The map features the world of the Quake games.

Northwest PassageMapmaker:shakeycatDescription:Yet another very promising first draft. The map takes place at the Arctic region, but introduces a very different gameplay from the current Arctic map.

Description: A map of Europe under Napoleon's reign. Present Development: Gameplay is being balanced, and honed into shape. Final tweaks are being made regarding neutrals, bonuses and other gameplay features. Gameplay stamp is probably not far away for this map.

Description:A new mapmaker has come up with a very promising concept for a map. With the help of Industrial Helix the map has gone through quite a bit of development. Present Development: Map was recently moved into Gameplay workshop. Discussion of starting points, neutral values and gameplay in general.

Description: A map of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania) which is another area that is quite under-represented in CC. Present Development: Bonus system is being discussed, also some debate on territory names.

Description: A historical map of feudal Japan at the warring states era. The feudal lords or daimyo of Japan are waging war for the control of the country.Present Development: Gameplay dynamics are being developed. Some debate on the bonus system.

Description: A map of a bank heist. Grab the money and run! But watch out for the cops...Present Development: Final gameplay adjustments are being made. Some debate on the victory condition and neutral values.

Description: A map of radio stations fighting for listeners. A novel idea for a CC map, the map offers unique yet simple gameplay.Present Development: Just recently moved into graphics workshop. Graphics development begins...

Description: This map brings a whole new dimension to CC maps. It is a cube of 4 x 4 x 4 territories, with a bonus system based on smaller cubes.Present Development: Trying to find or create a suitable background image.

Description:Set in the year 1302, when an army of Flemish peasants defeated the knights of the french army, this map has a standard gameplay and a nice graphics.Present Development:Recently stamped for graphics, it now in the Final Forge

Description: Another fantasy map: 8 wizards in a cave with a horde of monsters. Find the powerstones, slaughter the monsters, and get out alive... Present Development: XML done and waiting for beta testing.

Description:A map based on one of the oldest games, to put it simply. It's a lovely rendering of a late-game chess match, with auto-deploys on held pieces and attack routes based on piece movement. That alone makes for a different and engaging gameplay, sure to set this map apart. So grab the speed clock and claim checkmate soon.

In what was probably the most hyped clan war of the year so far, The Horsemen of the Apocalypse have defeated The Spanking Monkeys. Officially the score still reads 40-38, however Game 6472097 has been decided, so this will be a win for THOTA.

This is a story of several different clan wars rolled into one. Who you ask will determine what you will be told about this clan war. This war brought out the best in us and the worst in us. The play was outstanding in many games and there were at times great displays of sportsmanship. Other times sportsmanship was lacking and complaining and drama was the order of the day.

There was great excitement at times; many who were not involved in the war posted there interest in the challenge thread. Other times we seemed to be posting ourselves just to make conversation. Here are some comments that sum up the diverse nature of this clan war and the first one was a response to a pm I sent out at the beginning of the clan war asking for comments. One can see how old the comment is from the quoted score.

Blitzaholic wrote:TSM vs THOTA: It is a clash of the titans, the 2 mega clans that many have been long awaited to see, it finally is here and it is a slug fest for the ages. It features many CC legends and greats from both sites all compiled into one masterpiece. A battle of superstars who have names echoed into the halls of CC fame. Its hype and anticipation is all that one could hope for as we are currently tied 4-4 in an 80 game heavyweight super fight.

Blitz’s comments certainly epitomize the excitement that many felt about this clan war. It was palpable. THOTA and TSM came into this undefeated, THOTA was 7-0 overall, so when TSM took the lead after round 1, and extended it a little after the second round, that certainly made things interesting.

THOTA tying it up in round 3 just increased the tension as we knew that it would go down to the final 20 games. And even down the stretch the score was (unofficially) tied around 37-37 or 38-38 with only a few games that really had not been decided. At the end it was 40-38 (which by the way is the official score right now) with two games still in the balance. Which is where it is right now, however as mentioned above Game 6472097 is basically over. So this is how it ends. It was certainly a fun finish.

comic boy wrote:My view is that the games were incredibly well fought but ultimately the level of trash talk ruined the challenge. At the end of the day this is a gaming site, the idea is to have fun, too many people take it far too seriously , because of this I have no further interest in being in a clan and have now resigned from THOTA.

There were many times when we took this too seriously and showed bad sportsmanship. Not all players, but some. I’m embarrassed to say that I myself showed poor sportsmanship, this game for example Game 6021861 and when talking trash in the public thread.

This was not something that happened in every game, or all the time, however when it did happen it seemed to be insidious. It would affect everyone, to varying degrees albeit. Some would get drawn in and make things worse. Those who were smart just tried to avoid it.

In the end these things were resolved and I think more players than not walked away having been happy that they played in this war, for example:

Big Whiskey wrote:This has been the toughest clan war I have ever been in. Both clans have some of the best team players in CC history.The score shows how equal both clans are.With only a couple games left,I have to say I am glad this is almost over. Hats off to TSM for giving us the funniest,most challenging clan war ever.

Big Whiskey is one of those guys who never posted anything more than “game xyz, thota win”. Perhaps this is why he enjoyed the clan war so much. Some times its hard for many of us in a competition to remember that we are playing this for fun, those who remember it seem to enjoy it more.

On a personal note: I myself enjoyed this clan war very much. Everyone on both sides play great. THOTA defeated us fair and square, and I would like to congratulate them (grudgingly I admit) on games well played. They were solid all around, on all maps and all game types. Very well done.

I'd also like to apologize to anyone who I might have offended from THOTA with my trash talk. It was meant in good fun, but in retrospect it is something that I should have left out.

Finally to all my monkeys. You all played a great game. I gained new respect for your abilities and found new partners who I enjoy playing with. Thank you all for joining in this clan war. I am sorry that we lost, but I must say everyone of you played excellent and there is no group of guys I would rather team with in the future.

The Conqueror’s Cup has got off to a thrilling start with the pre-season qualifying round producing three classic cup ties, and the Mermaids-Eternal Empire match-up so close it is going to a tie-breaker.

16th seeds L4D have come out on top of their challenge against 17th seeds VDLL. As a Dutch speaking clan, De Veroveraars are the longest-established and most successful of the clans based on a language or nationality. They brought a strong inclusive spirit to their team selection:

frederik hendrik wrote:We played the 20-game challenge with 18 different players. Our best players were SirSebstar and uptothemax. We started well indeed, winning the first 5 games (mainly doubles).

At this point, L4D’s leader was un-nerved:

poptartpsycho18 wrote:Hell yeah it was a tough challenge. I felt horrible, like I'd let my clan down by putting us in this even though I know they're great players. My personal morale was getting a beat-down so I could only imagine how my guys felt. I just hoped that we'd come back strong so that it wouldn't be a totally bad loss.

L4D's co-leader was more optimistic:

ga7 wrote:Kudos to VDLL for some very tight games. I was optimistic before the challenge, but they fought hard and made a good use of their home games. Ptp blames herself too much When we went five down, basically I thought we'd have at least a tiebreaker, since they grabbed most of the dubs at first and it's definitely not our forte; the trips and our quads, which obviously take longer, were going well at that moment.

L4D did indeed fight back and the challenge looked very close, 11-9 or maybe 10-10 even, when dice and strategy came together in a classic CC lightning strike. Game 6448013 was a VDLL homegame trips on Waterloo. It began off unremarkable, no great strategy on either side, nothing much to talk about. But VDLL had the best of it throughout and were pressing home for a kill. Then Johnny Rico played one of those turns that escalating players dream about:

johny rico wrote:Somehow we managed to hang around long enough in the game where spoils were starting to get pretty big. On the winning turn, I had 3 spoils at the start of my turn, and a set, and both my teammates were almost out of the game. Drew483 and I discussed at length whether or not I could eliminate his last territory with only my 3 drop. I decided that if we actually wanted to win, we had to take the risk, so I went 8v6 to eliminate Drew and luckily it worked out. I traded twice for 45 troops, and methodically began working my way around the board. I had a pretty good idea of where most of Frederik Hendrik's territories were as I remembered his locations from earlier rounds. I carefully moved around the board, eliminating Frederik and any of his allies’ territories that would be hard to come back to later. Once I knocked him out, I took his 4 spoils and traded in again for 30. Then I had to divvy up the troops so that I could eliminate japser_be who was pretty spread out over the map. I think he had about 15 regions left at this point, so I split my deployments to cover each area he had and honestly only had about 5 more attacking troops than defending troops in taking each group of territories. Finally, as if everything so far hadn't worked out perfectly, when I took japser's spoils, I ended up getting two sets from the 6 spoils I had. If it weren't for this, it would have been almost impossible to eliminate Bonobo before his turn. Luckily, I traded in for 75 and finished the game. Overall I think I took about half an hour on the turn to make sure I didn't miss-click any territories or screw anything up. I feel bad stealing the win from them like that, because they did a great job of outplaying us with artillery and such on the map. Sometimes you just get lucky though

L4D go on to face the legendary THOTA, longtime leading clan on CC and number 1 seeds for the Cup. The leading clans may be looking forward to the final rounds and facing their closest rivals, but for the up-and-coming clans the excitement is here and now.

poptartpsycho18 wrote:Hmm, THOTA...I admit I'm a bit intimidated, but I'm glad for the opportunity. A relatively new clan like ours would probably never get to play them anytime soon. It's hard to say what will happen in the next round between us, they're very practiced so they know exactly what works for them, while we're still learning all about ourselves. Hopefully it'll be entertaining and we can give them a good fight.

ga7 wrote:I'm really glad it's against THOTA, I enjoyed playing them in the Clan League. I usually find their settings fit us, which is as good as it gets when you're up against a top clan. It's a good opportunity to see if we can upset a bit the status quo

Mythology, who are making a strong showing in this year’s clan league and are seeded 14th in the Cup, won decisively over Legends of the Zone, taking all but one of the trips and quads. Teamwork and a little luck were the key factors, the clan leaders said:

peanutsdad wrote:Our clansmen/women don't really have a secret, unless you count our stressing to all members that communication is about the most important thing in trips and quads. There's always the dice, which we had on our side the first round. And then there's the ladies, we got em, and they’re lucky...

LotZ co-leader Scary Teded paid tribute to Myth and was proud of his own clan’s teamwork, particularly their performances in the singles and doubles, which they split equally with Myth.

Scary Teded wrote:We have been around as a Clan since June 2009, started out as a group of friends that have been playing together for 15 years on different sites till we found CC and made this our Drop Zone, love the diversity of the site.The trips & quads were a challenge as a new clan and something we as a team are adjusting to and working on for future Wars and moving up the chain...Whats next for the LOTZ is moving up and taking over CC, keeping it fun and challenging for all.

Next for Mythology though are Empire, hosts of the tournament and seeded number 3. Myth are under no illusions that all their skills will be called on to bring a favourable result in that match.

MTIceman41 wrote:We are excited to play against Empire and feel like we match up really well against them. We just had a 4-4 split in the CLA League 2 match and know that they are going to be ready for us. Mythology is looking for the upset.

After 20 games nothing separates the 13th and 18th seeds, and this one will be decided by the tiebreaker. From first to last it has been hard fought, with neither clan being able to carve out an advantage. A testament to the players' all-round skills has been their away games wins, with each side dominating the other's home games.

Later rounds are long enough to really show which clan is the best, but with the qualifiers played at half length, just 20 games, the losing team will have a right to feel that there is nothing between the winners and themselves, and if their intensity cubes had been just a bit more rapid, the final result would have been very different.

On CC though there can only be one winner. Cup rules call for a single game tiebreaker: Classic, no spoils, sunny, trips. Earlier this week the clans were in huddle.

GodEmperorQ wrote:We have yet to choose our team for the tiebreaker, but whoever it is you can sure it will be a group of people who really play well together and communicate well. It has definitely been a tough match, BotFM has put up a great fight.

GallantPellham wrote:We're just glad to have given Eternal Empire a run for it. The funny thing is that donny, Fran and I all were in EE until we heard the call of the Sea. We're just pirates at heart, or as we like to say it Gentlemen of Fortune, so shiver me timbers mate, and here’s a belt to blow them down!

Will the pirates find their treasure or will the Empire live for ever? Find out here: Game 6579320

Round 1

As the clan challenges forum fills up with thread for the first round proper, how does the Conqueror's Cup organiser rate the tournament so far?

Chuuuuck wrote:The cup is living up to my expectations. There have already been a couple of great matches that were very close down to the wire and people seem to be excited about starting the first round.I am also really happy with some of the first round match-ups. The Low and O&H rematch should be exciting to watch and KORT and G1 will finally get to settle their tie!

Stay Tuned for the next issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch for an interrogation of MeDeFe. Post any questions you may have for them here --> Interrogation with MeDeFe

Submitting Your Own Articles

If you have a story you think the ConquerClub Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to samuelc812 or nagerous. If the CC Dispatch Team enjoy it than you may just see your article published in the Newsletter!

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This answer is coming from WAY right field, maybe the sexiest clan ever.

Not sure, I just took a gander.

12:17:31 ‹Pixar› im gonna be fappin to that all night long10:59:12 ‹rhp 1› holy hell... that did it.. I pissed myself15:15:52 ‹Ace Rimmer› Sackett58, I think I may get some action this weekend15:16:05 ‹Sackett58› Right hand or left Ace?

Hmm. Seriously...the interview for this issue got old fast, and it was very annoying. It wasn't funny. Disappointing. Screen your interviewees better next time!!! Thanks CC Dispatch, the rest of the Issue was great as usual!!!!

InsomniaRed wrote:Hmm. Seriously...the interview for this issue got old fast, and it was very annoying. It wasn't funny. Disappointing. Screen your interviewees better next time!!! Thanks CC Dispatch, the rest of the Issue was great as usual!!!!

whooa... i think you got up too early this morning (you posted at 5 AM, yikes)you should have some coffee and relax...

PS- but i will agree that it could have been better... that interview certainly didn't give any real insight to how great a person happy really is,and afterall... isn't that the point of these interviews...

Fruitcake wrote:I see the sense of humour of people is up to its usual standards.

Well done Happy. It was light, unaffected, humorous and, in the BpB style, popped a little fun into the equation.

No, I believe our sense of humor is perfectly fine. The interview was just not funny. It was borderline spam and I think we all were hoping for a real interview to get to know a CCer, which is what the column is about, not hear the same stupid thing over and over, since it wasn't even funny in her first answer, it wasn't funny in her 25th either.

Fruitcake wrote:I see the sense of humour of people is up to its usual standards.

Well done Happy. It was light, unaffected, humorous and, in the BpB style, popped a little fun into the equation.

No, I believe our sense of humor is perfectly fine. The interview was just not funny. It was borderline spam and I think we all were hoping for a real interview to get to know a CCer, which is what the column is about, not hear the same stupid thing over and over, since it wasn't even funny in her first answer, it wasn't funny in her 25th either.

See what is funny is: WE already know her. You are looking at the cool table in the cafeteria, wishing you were invited. Now you are all sitting there thinking "Boy, those jocks are dumb," or" she's a slut" because we won't let you into our world. So have fun eating your government provided lunches, while we all exclude you as inferior. And John Hughes is dead, so you won't be popular in the end of this little movie.

Fruitcake wrote:I see the sense of humour of people is up to its usual standards.

Well done Happy. It was light, unaffected, humorous and, in the BpB style, popped a little fun into the equation.

Glad you enjoyed it. Personally, I think the decline of BpB from a fun-loving clan to bitter, joyless curmudgeons is one of the sadder things to happen to the forums. You guys used to be a hell of a laugh, now it seems you're a little too intent on proving how cool you are. This site is supposed to be fun, not a vehicle for attempting to prove how above it you are. Damn shame.

Fruitcake wrote:I see the sense of humour of people is up to its usual standards.

Well done Happy. It was light, unaffected, humorous and, in the BpB style, popped a little fun into the equation.

Glad you enjoyed it. Personally, I think the decline of BpB from a fun-loving clan to bitter, joyless curmudgeons is one of the sadder things to happen to the forums. You guys used to be a hell of a laugh, now it seems you're a little too intent on proving how cool you are. This site is supposed to be fun, not a vehicle for attempting to prove how above it you are. Damn shame.

I'd rather if you were to call my clan a bunch of bitter, joyless curmudgeons could you do it somewhere else please. This is not the place for trolling/flaming but rather to comment on the newsletter as a whole, which takes a lot of effort to compile each fortnight so a bit more gratitude from users would be nice on occasion.